Table Of Contents

Cisco IP Phone Services

System administrators use Cisco IP Phone Services Configuration, a menu option in Cisco CallManager Administration, to define and maintain the list of Cisco IP Phone services to which users can subscribe at their site. Cisco IP Phone services include Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications that enable the display of interactive content with text and graphics on Cisco IP Phones.

After the list of services is configured, users can log in to the Cisco CallManager User Options Menu and subscribe to these services for their Cisco IP Phones, or an administrator can add services to Cisco IP Phones and device profiles. Administrators can assign services to speed-dial buttons, so users have one-button access to the services.

A user can access a service from the supported phone model in two ways. The user can press the button labeled "services," or user can use a preconfigured phone button. When the user presses the services button, the phone uses its HTTP client to load a specific URL that contains a menu of services to which the user has subscribed for the phone. The user then chooses a service from the listing. When a service is chosen from the menu, the URL gets requested via HTTP, and a server provides the content, which then updates the phone display. When the user presses the phone button that is configured for a service, the URL gets requested via HTTP.

Typical services that might be supplied to a phone include weather information, stock quotes, and news quotes. Deployment of Cisco IP Phone Services occurs using the HTTP protocol from standard web servers, such as the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS).

Users can only subscribe to services that are configured through Cisco CallManager Administration. The following list gives information that is configured for each service:

•URL of the server that provides the content

•Service name and description, which help end users browsing the system

•A list of parameters that are appended to the URL when it is sent to the server

These parameters personalize a service for an individual user. Examples of parameters include stock ticker symbols, city names, zip codes, or user IDs.

From Cisco CallManager Administration, you can subscribe a lobby phone or other shared devices to a service.

After the system administrator configures the services, users can log in to the Cisco IP Phone User Options and subscribe to services. From the Cisco IP Phone User Options, users can

•Subscribe to any service on their phone (Subscriptions occur on a per-device basis.)

•Add and update the service URL button

You can also subscribe to services from Cisco CallManager Administration and from the Bulk Administration Tool (BAT) application.

When the user clicks the Subscribe button, Cisco CallManager builds a custom URL and stores it in the database for this subscription. The service then appears on the device services list.

Guidelines and Tips

A Cisco IP Phone displays graphics or text menus, depending on how the services are configured.

The Cisco IP Phone Model 7960 supports the HTTP header that is sent with any window that includes a Refresh setting. Therefore, a new window can, after a fixed time, replace any XML object that displays. The user can force a reload by quickly pressing the Update softkey. If a timer parameter of zero was sent in the header, the window only moves to the next window when you press the Update softkey. The window never automatically reloads.

The Cisco IP Phone Model 7960 supports the following softkeys that are intended to help the data entry process:

•Submit—This softkey indicates that the form is complete and that the resulting URL should be sent via HTTP.

•<<—Use the backspace softkey to backspace within a field.

•Cancel—This softkey cancels the current input.

Use the vertical scroll button for field-to-field navigation.

Caution Do not put Cisco IP Phone Services on any Cisco CallManager server at your site or any server that is associated with Cisco CallManager, such as the TFTP server or directory database publisher server. This precaution eliminates the possibility that errors in a Cisco IP Phone Service application will have an impact on Cisco CallManager performance or interrupt call-processing services.

Dependency Records

To find devices that a specific Cisco IP Phone Service is using, click the Dependency Records link that is provided on the Cisco CallManager Administration Cisco IP Phone Service Configuration window. The Dependency Records Summary window displays information about devices that are using the Cisco IP Phone Service. To find out more information about the device, click the device, and the Dependency Records Details window displays. If the dependency records are not enabled for the system, the dependency records summary window displays a message.